Policing Minister Brandon Lewis said the new legislation could be brought in as early as next year while speaking at a parliamentary debate on the petition,

“None of us think of police animals as just equipment,” he said.

“They are an important part of the job.”

Police dog Finn was recently stabbed in the head and chest and his PC Dave Wardell also received a hand injury in Stevenage, after they apprehended a suspect on the 5th October.

The current law means that people who attack police dogs or Police horses are prosecuted for causing criminal damage, but campaigners who signed the petition want the animals to be given the same status as Police officers.

During the speech Mr Lewis said: “It doesn’t seem to me to properly convey the respect and gratitude that we do and should feel for the animals involved, and for their contribution to law enforcement, and indeed public safety more widely.”

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